CAPUCHIN GENERAL CURIA, 29TH APRIL 1993
Donal O'Mahony, o.f.m.Cap.
a) The Formator as a Peace Educator
b) The necessity of having an underlying spirituality
c) The preferential option for the poor
a) The nature: of peace; of justice; of ecology.
b) An outline structure for a programme
c) The personal challenge to the Formator
a) The centrality of PEACE in the vision of Francis
b) An approach by way of COMPASSION and AFFECTIVITY
c) Ten observations to assist franciscan Formators
Donal O'Mahony, o.f.m.Cap
(To aid a shared discussion at Inter-franciscan Forum Meeting at Capuchin General Curia, 29th April 1993.)
No generation of franciscans should be allowed to lose sight of the fundamental objective which all persons of good will are summoned to embrace - to live together on planet Earth as sisters and brothers. This is what Francis lived and preached. And even today, nearly 800 years later, this is what is attracting multitudes of people to his message. In Gospel terms this means having a concerted will to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of Justice, Peace and joy, accessible to all and excluding none, in the Spirit.
In the Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Religious Life, there is an important principle stated for all religious congregations. It reads :
"It serves the best interest of the Church for communities to have their own special character and purpose".
It is our contention that "Peace" is one of the foundational values of the franciscan family and so is part of its special character and purpose. "Peace" includes peace proclaiming , peace making and peace building. The charism of peace in the franciscan family has existed from the very beginning. Celano, the biographer and personal friend of Francis, bears this out when he writes of Bernard, one of the earliest followers of Francis:
"Taking up the Mission of Peace... he joyfully hastened to follow the saint of God" (Cel 1.24)
Francis put strong emphasis on formation for peace when instructing the early brothers in the Order. Added support is offered by the historical fact that the public perceived Francis and his followers, during their own life-time, as "messengers of peace". A well-known Capuchin historian states unequivocally that "peace pertains to the very essence of franciscan minority" ( Octavanius Schmucki, of the Capuchin Historical Institute, Rome).
So at a time when it is official policy that Religious will serve the interests of the Church best when they exercise their own special character and purpose, no member of the franciscan family, it seems to me, can choose to ignore the importance of this mission of peace.
Yet, it would be totally false to conclude that for this reason, Justice and Ecology should be divorced from peace. On the contrary, these three values form a particular kind of unity within franciscanism that gives franciscan peacemaking its own unique flavour and method of approach. A franciscan tends to see injustice and irreverence for creation, first and foremost, as obstacles to peace. These obstacles need to be confronted, with that motive in mind, in order to help peace flower.
But Peace, Justice and Ecology have an important place in franciscan formation today for other reasons also:
1. Because the Church is insisting that Justice (which is linked to Ecology and Peace) is an integral part of evangelization: "We believe that the pursuit of Justice is constitutive for the life and ministry of the Church" (Synod of Bishops 1971).
2. Because "The signs of the times" clearly indicate that the ministry of peace, justice and ecology is an imperative for today's world.
3. Because this ministry is rooted biblically, in both Old and New Testament, and Paul sees it as the way to help bring about the Kingdom of God - "The Kingdom of God does not mean eating or drinking this or that, it means justice, peace and joy, in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14.17).
4. Because of the Constitutions drawn up by the Sisters and Brothers of the Franciscan family in recent times refer to the importance of this ministry.
For clarity and to assist formators, we will divide our
talk into three sections:
A Formator should have a general perspective on the subject of
peace, justice and ecology (part 1).
A methodology to transmit the message (part 2).
Finally, some random ideas regarding a specific franciscan
content (part 3).
The Catholic moral theologian, Bernard Haering has written that evangelization of today's world is sound only if the Gospel of peace is made transparent and becomes the yeast in all dimensions of the proclamation of salvation and pastoral care. Indeed, he adds, those for whom peace and peace mission remains only a marginal question in this historical moment condemn themselves to become altogether marginal.
Commitment to peace requires a whole new way of thinking. It is not one among other tasks. It is rather the characterizing task in our world. By giving a central role to the Gospel and mission of peace and nonviolence, we may, as religious, rid ourselves of any possible insinuation of irrelevance in today's peaceless world, say Haering. We can reach out to a hugh sensitive audience. The mission of peace for a franciscan points to reconciliation, healing and forgiveness.
Traditionally, there are three types of people engaged in the work of peace. The activist, the researcher and the educator. A franciscan formator should be primarily an educator, but that does not necessarily exclude the other two roles. Indeed, as we will be stating later, a formator in the area of peace, justice and ecology will be all the more successful, if he/she accompanies the formandi in active projects also.
Peace, it should be remembered, is a gift before it becomes a task. It is gift from Jesus "My peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give to you. A peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you" (Jn 14.27). A contemplative listening through deep interior prayer is a pre-requisite to internalising this gift of God. That is why the stress on spirituality is important.
The work of peace, justice and ecology for a franciscan should be primarily motivated by spirituality, and only secondary by political, social or humanitarian concerns. With that emphasis on a spiritual foundation every franciscan should be able to give hope to others, even in the most depressive of situations. It should also help those most actively engaged to avoid become "tired", or "burnt-out" or having the temptation to "throw in the towel" when things get tough. Theologically, the context for all peace spirituality is personal conversion and of promoting the Kingdom of God on earth.
This term "preferential option for the poor" has been used in official church documents. And it should easily endear itself to franciscans because of the charism for the poor that we proclaim. But does it ? I have heard some claim that this term limits the universality of Christ's message, even though the Pope has said that the preferential option is not to be considered "an exclusive option". Still some religious - even actively engaged ones - continue to have trouble with it. They say that in today's reality, the word 'poor' itself 'has become ambiguous'". A stance taken up by Carlo Caretto, for example, in his book I FRANCIS. Another well known religious actively engaged in justice and peace work stated in a public lecture to Caritas International: "I was born poor...I was born into a very poor family, and I experienced the pain of being labelled 'poor'. No one is really poor. We are all made in the image and likeness of God. All people are God's work of art - all are rich".
I would suggest that if 'preferential option for the poor' creates a difficulty for any formator, then the term could just as easily be changed to 'preferential option for the powerless'. In this way, the franciscan content would be maintained. Afterall, the real reason for people's economic poverty is their powerless state in society. They lack the power to improve their state of dependency or their financial situation. And the term "powerless" is also broad enough to take in other categories of persons like the elderly, the handicapped and other vulnerable groups.
Initially, these three words look to be an uncomfortable
trinity. Yet if one gives sufficient consideration to their
meaning, it can be seen that together they comprise a
beautiful unity. What bonds them together is that they all
deal with "relationships". Peace, justice, ecology
all focus on relationality. Peace implies good relationships
between persons, communities, nations and creation. Justice
implies well ordered relationships between persons,
communities, nations and creation. Ecology implies reverential
relations between persons, communities, nations and the
universe.
We will look at each of them in turn, briefly.
PEACE:
We can distinguish peace as an ideal and peace as a historical possibility. Peace as an ideal is attainable only beyond history. It is the peace that St Paul says the whole of creation is waiting for. Peace as a historical possibility, on the other hand, is a concrete objective that can be striven for, even if it will always be an imperfect peace.
The General aim in teaching peace is to heighten the level of awareness among the formandi in order that they can see more clearly how and why this world should become more united. The Formator will get them to itemize the major social obstacles that prevents peace happening today, e.g. War, mal-distribution of wealth, narrow nationalism, growth of urbanization, the arms trade, the international debt, racism, ecological degradation, religious sectarianism and so forth.
The specific aim of peace education could be summed up as follows:
a) To foster a realisation of the dignity of each woman
and man and child in society;
b) To foster an attitude that society has a responsibility for
the individual person;
c) To foster a spirit of evangelical poverty - "No one is
justified in keeping for their exclusive use what they do not
need, when others lack necessities" (Paul V1
"Populorum Progressio");
d) To foster a sense of world unity, including respect for
creation.
JUSTICE:
In the Greco-Roman understanding of Justice, we would speak only of regulating relations to objects or to other persons in regard to the material order. It would never regard the person's interior value in love, as being important. This is the extra dimension in the Christian idea of Justice. This is an important fact for us to remember when working for justice.
In any relations with other persons (even if they are 'enemies' so-called), it must be love which unfolds the actual I to the Thou. Then, and only then, comes what is second - and let there be no doubt about its importance - justice between the I and Thou; between I and We of society or justice which establishes the right order regarding the material goods of the individual and the community. For this reason, justice is the most elevated of the moral virtues. Its power lies, first and foremost, in the moral love of value and of the person . The roots of Christian justice, therefore, lies in a love of person and love of value - a love which is ultimately rooted in Jesus Christ.
For the Formator, it is useful to be able to classify various types of justice:
Legal Justice : In its daily form, this is restricted to the object of legal activity, exercised by those in authority and the fulfilment of laws in relation to the common good.
Commutative Justice : which is regulated by the private right of contract according to the principle of give and take, e.g. buying and selling. Examples of violations of commutative justice would include theft, fraud, unjust damage etc.
Distributive Justice : this regulates the measure of privileges, burdens or charges, and obligations of the individual vis a vis the community. Distributive justice is violated by fanatical partisanship favouring individuals or a class, in opposition to the common welfare.
Vindictive Justice : an effort to restore violated justice by means of punishment which is in proportion to the guilt. The aim of vindictive punishment should have no other purpose in mind than the furtherance of the common welfare. (I might add here, vindictive punishment such as the 'death penalty' would, or at least, should be totally unacceptable to any franciscan).
Social Justice :This is the kind of justice most often referred to today when we say we say that we are working for peace and justice. It is closely linked with the other forms just stated, yet it has a different emphasis. Social justice looks beyond - in the interest of the community as a whole. Especially it looks to those who are economically and politically weak. Social Justice demands that those who 'have', whether individually or collectively, may be obliged to help those who 'have not'. This obligation is not one only of charity, but one in justice. The foundation for such an obligation lies in the social nature of the human person and the social purpose of material goods on the earth. One of the vexed questions today in social justice is the complex problem of structural injustice.
ECOLOGY:
The word ecology is derived from the Greek word, "Oikos", which means 'house' or 'place' in which to live. It is the most rapid emerging inter-disciplinary sciences of this century. It combines insights from physics, biology, biochemistry, zoology, chemistry, geology and geography. But as McDonagh points out, there is a problem with the word ecology itself. While its etymology aptly describes what needs to be done to care for and preserve our home, the earth and the universe, it shares the fate of many other Greek-derived nouns in English. It sounds technical and abstract and fails to evoke a warm response among ordinary non-technical people. From a Christian point of view, Integrity of Creation seems a better word than ecology. That is, the unity and the inter-relationships which God wills for the universe, and all that lives in it, from the beginning.
All of us have mental frameworks from philosophy which help us to make sense out of the many experiences of the world in which we live, and the relationship we have with that world. Handed down to us until recently was a mechanistic theory of nature, a static world, where God was an optional extra. As believers, we would have tended to place God spatially, at least in our thinking and praying, up there, and so dichotomize Him from his material creation.
Today, a second mental framework is emerging which, sees the world as dynamic and evolutionary. A world made up of interacting internal relationships - even down to the smallest sub-atomic particles, as Einstein's theory of relativity explains. Into that dynamic world, God, like all living things, only perfectly, embodies and images the principle of internal relations, through his immanent dynamic trinitarian Presence.
I think the way we choose between these two views of the world is often influenced by our personal intuitions and our ability to acknowledge mystery; and this, in turn, affects our tolerance of it. Those with a low "mystery-tolerance" threshold are drawn towards the mechanistic world view, which is a world of objectivity, a world that is "out there" and which we stand over and against as observers. Those with a higher "mystery-tolerance" threshold tend towards recognizing the interconnectedness of everything that exists, and the human involvement in such 'connectedness'. If believers, they will also experience God's pervasive presence in creation. A kind of cosmic communion, in which the worldly and temporal remain worldly and temporal, that is, not sacralized yet becoming truly sanctified through the immanent Presence of God even in the humblest piece of individuated matter.
It is the second world view that comes closest to Francis. It was that which prompted him to call every one and every thing, his brother and sister. The fact that Pope John Paul 11, declared St. Francis patron of ecologists, in the Apostolic Letter INTER SANTOS on 29th November 1979 adds significance to this point of view. Indeed, there has always been an eco-spirituality in franciscan life, that pushed us - more! even obliged us franciscans - to move against the current of irreverence in contemporary society. Today, Franciscan Formators have the task of making this alive for members. The numbers of young people thirsting for such a message is growing.
No peace education programme for franciscans can be value-free. Yet a formator should be able to present a programme to the formandi that is open enough to be accepted by all people of good will. The following outline in five points may be of some help:
FIRST, To give an overall vision of peace.
Few people, if left to themselves, are likely ever to arrive at a comprehensive personal vision of peace. Yet a Formator cannot manufacture a synthetic ideal of peace suitable for mass consumption. A Formator can only hope to help each to develop a genuine vision of their own, by familiarising them with a number of concepts which should form part of any worthwhile personal philosophy and vision of peace. Concepts, for example, such as - the historical perspective of human development; growth of conscience; a realisation of human dignity; the emergence of global society; the richness of diversity and pluralism; the meaning of justice, peace, ecology, equality, friendship; of freedom and liberation; the dynamism of the Gospel message in history; the primacy of spiritual means; the new creation; the Kingdom of God, and so on can broaden the meaning of peace. Concrete examples from the lives of people like St. Francis, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Ghandi, Archbishop Romero, Foundresses or Founders are all very apropos for illustrating the significance of having an overall vision of peace.
SECONDLY, Formators could highlight virtues that are effective in working for peace.
Franciscan formation for peace should be directed to internalising the general desire to be peaceful, to act for peace, and to act peacefully towards others. This will include fostering and encouraging a real sense among the formandi concerning their self-worth and dignity. If this sense of self-worth and dignity is missing in the young, there is a real danger that in time they will come to fear others (inside their community and without); they will see themselves as competitors or enemies, which in turn may set off a battery of negative responses, e.g. rejection, hostility, suspicion, a refusal to enter into dialogue - all of which are incompatible with the task of working for peace. Christian virtues to be stressed in peace formation should include: Forgiveness, Patience, Reconciliation, Compassion, Sharing (especially of self). But it bears repeating once again, that underlying all the virtues is the need for silent interior prayer to sustain the attitudes and qualities in which commitment to peace should be rooted.
THIRDLY, Formators should help the formandi form an appropriate vocabulary.
Developing a "peace vocabulary" is part of the peace process. Words can be powerful influences in evoking a peaceful or non-peaceful response from others. Formandi must be taught to be careful how others "hear" their words, and how they "hear" others. They should also become familiar with concepts such as prejudice, especially the dominant prejudices in a given society; human rights, their nature and evolution; conflict, the anatomy and the dynamics of conflict; conscientisation, especially the need to link up theory and action; violence , its physical, psychological, cultural, institutional, political and social manifestations; conscience, its moral, legal and political aspects. Other words or concepts they need to become familiar with would include conscription, conscientious objectors, the military-industrial complex, arbitration, mediation, conciliation, reconciliation etc.
FOURTHLY, To show there are different nonviolent or peace responses to be made different situations.
People who accept the use of organized violence to achieve an end will appear at first sight to have a distinct advantage over the peace-proclaimer or peace maker, who has to forego such means. That is the reason why Formators need to understand both the theory and the practice of nonviolence, and what are the range and possibilities for nonviolent alternatives. Fundamentally, it is good to remember, that even when confronted with hate, Jesus rejected the use of organized violence. So:
a) In a time and place of relative peace and justice : The peacemaker will understand there is continual need to nurture and sustain it. Hence vigilance is called for. The daily effort of the peacemaker in such relatively happy circumstances is to see to it that peace, justice, integrity of creation becomes deeply ingrained as part of the people's culture. That it is transmitted to the young in the home, schools, churches and through the mass media.
b) In a time and place of injustice : Here, a different response is needed. Next to hatred and bigotry, the greatest single enemy or obstacle to true peace is injustice. Where injustice is concealed under the trappings of an established social order, the peacemaker must have the courage and the capacity to unearth it and work for its redress. This will require analysis and some group reflections, under the light of the Holy Spirit.
c) In a time and place of war and strife : The obligation of the peacemaker to work to end violence is as great as the duty to work for its prevention. Unfortunately, the voice of the peacemaker can easily be silenced by the gun or the blind pursuit of victory. It can also be crowded out by propaganda and the unbending posture of the established authorities. Many active peace-workers in the USA were traumatised by the opposition they faced, even from friends, when they publicly opposed the use of violence in the "Gulf War". They were made to feel isolated and accused of being unpatriotic and even betraying their country. The same is happening concerning Bosnia today. It is never easy to keep calling for nonviolent sanctions and active dialogue between parties in a time and place of war and strife. So the task of the Formator is to prepare those in his charge to anticipate such rejection - even from friends - and to link it up with the pain and rejection that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, experienced, when his choice of nonviolence led him to the Cross on Calvary.
FIFTHLY, The emphasis by the Formator on the need for practical competence when working for peace .
Any methodology of a peace formation programme should insist on the need for the formandi to acquire practical competence. Good will and strong emotions are not enough. Indeed, they can be sometimes dangerous and counter-productive. The acquisition of practical competence can only come about through opportunities for active involvement at some minimal level in the work of peace, justice and ecology. For example, by becoming a member of an existing peace groups like Pax Christi, IFOR, Amnesty International. Or, engagement in some activity of the Congregation, combined with systematic reflection on what is being achieved, eg. Day shelter or feeding the homeless, visiting prisons etc.
Some practical skills for peacework can also be fostered in exercising community life: e.g. Learning the rules of peace-dialogue with those who disagree with you; How to mediate as a third person in a conflict; the steps to take for effective reconciliation and healing; how to do social analysis; how to avoid stereotyping; learning how to evaluate problems from the standpoint of the poor and oppressed after watching TV or reading current affairs. Other exercises could include cultivating a peaceful life-style...in thought, vocabulary and action; becoming sensitive to "hidden angers" in self and in others; being courteous, humble and speaking respectfully to everyone; attitudinal changes in favour of nonviolence; keeping actions and thoughts positive and constructive; avoiding recourse to denunciation; confronting in oneself the pervasive individualism that is in modern society. Above all, trying to realise in one's self that counsel which Francis offers every member of the franciscan family. "Since you speak of peace, all the more must you have it in your heart".
A challenge to formators: The question can be rightly asked - Can formation people in religious life be expected to be competent not only in formation, but also in matters of peace, justice and ecology? The Irish moral theologian and writer, Donal Dorr asks this question in his book, Spirituality of Justice. His reply is direct: They cannot afford not to be. They are not competent formation people if they have specialised only in "personal" dimension of spirituality". Of its nature, spirituality has a public dimension. Formators must take this public dimension seriously in their own lives, Dorr says; otherwise they are likely to pass on a truncated approach to spirituality to the formandi.
What would be helpful to Formators is a significant involvement in the ministry of peace, justice and ecology, so that it may have a notable impact on their own lives and on the lives of those undergoing formation.
If we look how Jesus formed his followers we might discover some light. Jesus did not swamp his followers with a lot of theory. Their formation was done mostly 'in the field'. Jesus clearly respected their personal responsibility. He did not demand mindless conformity. Rather he engaged in serious dialogue with them, e.g. Who do you say that I am ? This approach of Jesus has much in common with the so-called "Apprenticeship Model". The learner is introduced not merely to a body of knowledge and a set of skills, but also to a way of life. The main location for formation that Jesus offered was the very busy world of his ministry. Yet there were many times when he took them away from the market place: "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while".
In the Gospels we find Jesus often sending his followers out on "trial runs", to carry out a healing and teaching ministry like his own. When they came back they shared their experiences with him, and he brought them off to a secluded place for further reflection (Mk 6.30).
As a Formator, Jesus was also willing to face a human failure of his mission IN FRONT OF HIS FOLLOWERS. He even asked for their support: Could you not watch one hour"? Mt.26.40. In a word, He did not want to be seen as 'the expert', who always had to have things under control.
If Formators follow the example of Jesus, there is a very good case for doing more formation, by doing ministry "in the field" (involving both the formators and the formandi). This would seem to apply in a special way to the ministry of peace, justice and ecology. Formators will, in this way, become co-disciples of Jesus, alongside those who are in formation. This shared involvement by formators and formandi can be healthy in any adequate formation programme for peace, justice and ecology.
We return again to the centrality of peace. From very early on, Francis wished the friars to have peace as a central part of their mission. In the Rule of 1223, he counselled the friars how they should learn to relate to the world in a peaceful manner (Ch.3).
The culmination of the arduous journey to conversion by Francis came in the year 1208 in the Marian chapel of the Portiuncula. There he listened to the discourse of Jesus to the 72 disciples being read. What light came into his life when he heard the Lord say in that discourse. "When you go into a house, let your first words be "Peace to this house". Celano says that the saint's face lit up, as if by the light of the sun, when he heard these words of the Lord being read. At that moment the concept of peace and his desire to spread it became all important.
Francis profoundly understood that the mission of peace had been personally entrusted to him and his followers by God and so had to become an essential part of the spiritual way of franciscan life. Francis tended to link peace with love. In his Letter to All the Faithful, for example, he implores for everyone in the whole world, "true peace from heaven and sincere love" (Letter of Francis to All the Faithful). Other congregations, drawing from their own charism, link peace with truth; or peace with justice; but the franciscan charism is to link peace with love. St. Bonaventure said of Francis that "at the beginning and end of every sermon he announced peace, in every greeting he wished for peace, in every contemplation he sighed for ecstatic peace" (Prologue to "The Soul's Journey into God"). Such a foundational stress cannot be overstated by Formators.
The franciscan Formator will find plenty of material to support the thesis of the centrality of Peace in the writings of Celano and other biographers. Other sources will include the Constitutions of the Congregation; leadership statements - for example, the joint Letter to all franciscan sisters and brothers on the occasion of the celebration of the 8th centenary of the Birth of Francis (1982). Plenty of material can also be found in the lives of franciscan saints.
A franciscan Formator should be able to communicate to the formandi a deep compassion, both in theory and in practice, for all those who suffer because of physical or institutional violence or from any forms of social injustice. To be able to feel and communicate compassion is the beginning of all conversion. In the case of Francis, his conversion very probably began his compassion for the leper.
The Formator should also extend compassion to the Earth and the Universe because of the way it is being plundered, poisoned and desecrated. The franciscan spirit of compassion can be enunciated, especially through the many stories to be found in Celano. These stories are not just mere stories. They communicate more effectively the spirit of franciscanism than do the most learned of books.
The model role for the Formator in Justice, Peace and Ecology should neither be an authoritative one, a facilitating one, or even an accompanying one. It should be based on the christian discipleship model, namely, "Come, follow me". Only Christ, through his resurrected Spirit, can lead formators and formandi towards realization of the "Reign of God" in this world - a reign of justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom.14.17).
The Formator should also be conscious of the franciscan emphasis on affectivity, which comes through the Holy Spirit. St. Francis was not led on by philosophy, statesmanship or even humanitarian concerns..."No man showed me what I ought to do, but the Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live after the manner of the Holy Gospel". For this reason, relationships should never be subordinated to issues. We can work to reconcile persons, even when issues seem to keep them apart, eg in apartheid, disputes about political boundaries etc.
1. It is not enough for a franciscan to propose solutions and alternatives in the work of peace, justice, ecology. He or she is expected to be and to live these alternatives. This should be visibly seen in a special manner within our own franciscan community or family.
2. Contemplative prayer is needed to help us develop a theocentric vision of the world. Without engagement, contemplation always runs the risk of becoming disembodied interiority. Without contemplation, engagement may end up as restless activity. In daily contemplative prayer we will understand that it is not us, but the Spirit within us, which is the great builder of unity, justice and peace in the world. Sin is the source of disunity in the world, the Holy Spirit is the source of all future unity. In fact, the litmus test by which a franciscan can judge the fruits of his or her JPE ministry is to rhetorically ask the question. Is it my "own law" or "the law of the Spirit" which is giving me life?
3. A franciscan should beware of worshipping and praising a God who is everywhere, while ignoring Him in the specific: in the "somewhere" or in the "someone". The principle of individuation, and the importance of the immediate here and now is a characteristic of franciscanism as it was for Francis himself. We must be practical and concrete always in our work of JPE.
4. All franciscans anxious to become active in the work of JPE should, with the help of the Formator or Spiritual Director, seek out the deepest roots of their own peacelessness, their own aggressiveness or any other unhealthy tendencies in their lives. As Francis noted: Since as friars we speak of peace, all the more must we have it in our hearts".
5. Evangelization and conscientization are related. Franciscans should not be timid about awakening the poor and oppressed to their responsibility to overcome passivity. This can be just as important as 'doing' specific actions in peace and justice. To preach passive acceptance before an unjust social or economic order is to preach "cheap grace". Because of the centrality of peace in the franciscan charism, the formandi should be alerted to this danger.
6. Formators should present nonviolence as the only legitimate means for a franciscan to support. This should be highlighted as a Gospel value, and the respect that Francis had for life, even a worm on the road, or a twig on a tree. But nonviolence should also be presented by Formators as a scientifically researched alternative to violence, and can be illustrated in practice by referring to people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and theoretically by men like Prof Jean Sharp of the Einstein Institute for Nonviolent Struggle and others. Nonviolence, of course, must be personally internalised by each franciscan and become part of their daily thoughts and vocabulary and in the simplest of actions.
7. The "best" can often be the enemy of the "good". The formandi should be told that they must expect long-suffering patience in this ministry. It is often a case of the art of finding the next possible step to move towards. What is important is that each step be in the right direction and that it be peaceably made.
8. Depth psychology offers powerful evidence today that there lies in the unconscious part of our lives, seething masses of primitive images, passion, hate and resentment. The Formator should stress the need to bridge this unconscious part of our life with the conscious part - especially through reflection and deep interior prayer. Otherwise, there is a danger of projecting these hates and resentments onto others in our JPE ministry.
9. A true understanding of Justice, Peace and Ecology will always be incomplete for a franciscan unless he or she come to see that ultimately, Justice is not a concept but a person - Jesus, who is the "Just One". That Ecology does not begin with a programme, but with persons who have come to understand reverence for creation, and know that creation itself is a sacred point of contact for experiencing the "inside" Presence of the Trinitarian God. And that Peace is not just the absence of war or an abstract idea, but is itself, Jesus Christ, drawing all towards communion of oneness in his Spirit. Jesus is the Prince of Peace; he is "our peace".
10. Finally, I would like to put the Eucharist as the culminating point to this whole paper. Our Christian faith finds its climax in the Eucharist. There we touch the base of all reality. None of us should receive the Eucharist mainly in order to speak pious sentiments to Jesus, as an object of our adoration. Rather, in the Eucharist we are meant to experience the dynamic loving personal energies of Jesus sweeping us into love for each other and for His whole Body. Kneeling and/or receiving the Eucharist should become the most sacred moment in the life of a franciscan community. There, we can consciously unite ourselves with all the oppressed of the world, with all the victims of violence, of famine; with all the lonely and alienated ones, the refugees, single people dwelling in run-down city apartments, the homeless, the alcoholics, drug addicts and mentally disturbed; the separated and divorced. For there is no one not present within that consecrated Host. In the Eucharist, we may never separate Jesus the Head from Jesus in his members. In the micro-cosmic communion with the transfigured Bread and Wine, we are brought into a deeper faith to a cosmic communion with the Body of Christ, with the whole Church, and with nature itself. The franciscan family can, on a daily basis, be re-charged, rejuvenated and newly motivated for its work of JPE when praying liturgically in It's presence. The only question we should ask before the Eucharist is: What does my brother or sister or Mother Earth need of me now?
For Francis, the Eucharist became the deepest source of support for his desire for cosmic peace and reconciliation. What he wrote to the brothers in General Chapter in 1224 (just 2 years before he died), is just as applicable to us today:
"I beseech all of you, by whatever charity I can, that you show reverence and all honour to the most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, because (in Him) all thing, whether on earth or in heaven have been pacified and reconciled with Almighty God".
Yes, in the Eucharist everything that exists - whether in heaven or earth - is potentially united in peace and reconciliation. It is our task to make this realisable, in the Holy Spirit.
These, then are some of the points we wanted to share with you today. We hope they may prove helpful. I would be most grateful to receive from you in writing, any practical suggestions or criticisms. It is by coming together as a franciscan family to a meeting like this, that we can best prepare ourselves and the young franciscan sisters and brothers in formation for the work of Peace, Justice, Ecology - a ministry so important for the future of the world and, dare I say, important also to the future well-being of the franciscan family we all belong to and love so dearly.